Argument: Kosovo Albanians seek a peaceful transition to independence

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Tihomir Loza. “Will Kosovo Independence Hurt Stability? The UN’s plan for the territory’s gradual independence will trouble Serbia and other Balkan states, but fears of war or political strife are much exaggerated”. Business Week. January 31st, 2007 – “Luckily, there are far fewer reasons to be nervous about the Balkans right now. The Kosovo Albanians are very unlikely to repeat the violence of March 2004, when independence-demanding mobs attacked Serbs, their property and historic monuments throughout the province. Contrary to some popular assumptions, the Kosovo Albanians are not wild political animals who fly into raging fits every time they are denied immediate gratification of their desires. The March 2004 violence was not spontaneous. It was organized and sanctioned by people inside or close to Kosovo’s leading political parties. Those people succeeded in painting a realistic picture for the international community of what they are capable of doing in case they don’t get what they are asking for. The situation is now radically different. To start with, the Kosovo Albanians are undoubtedly getting independence, though not as quickly as some of them might have hoped. Second, while the threat of Albanian mob violence has been an important element in all international calculations about Kosovo, the international security forces in the province are now far better prepared for such an eventuality, so that anyone entertaining the idea would think twice before giving the go-ahead. And all the signs in Pristina are that the Kosovo Albanian leaders understand full well that all they are required to do now is behave themselves for a change.”